The Mummy is one of my all-time favorite movies. From the opening scene where the camera pans a sunset-filled Egyptian landscape to the daunting live action sequences dominated by thrilling stunts and unbelievable special effects, the film was a massive box office success in its day. To add to the praise, it has aged well over time, too.
The Mummy centers on the Egyptian high priest Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) who rises from the dead in search of body parts in order to fulfill his desire of reuniting with Anck-Su-Namun (Patricia Velasquez), Pharaoh’s mistress, who took her life after soldiers had discovered of her dalliance with the high priest. Cursed forever, Imhotep was to remain undead in his sarcophagus. When he escaped, he became a walking disease among humans, a flesh-eater with unbound strength and power over the sands all the while possessing invincibility.
In the meantime, wisecracking adventurer, Richard O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) has his hands full. Not only does he have to contend with Imhotep’s uncanny ability to destroy everything in his path, but he also has to deal with a nasty desert environment, supposed friends ready to betray him, and weird bugs that could eat him whole. And right at the top of the list is Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz), the comely brunette who has a knack with getting in trouble.
Born in London, England, at a young age, Evelyn gained a deep appreciation of ancient Egyptian artifacts. Her father grew in fame as an explorer and married an Egyptian woman who became Evelyn’s mother. Evelyn loved books and because of that love, she applied to Bembridge scholars in England. However, they denied her application citing her lack of experience in spite of her expertise in Egyptology. She soon went to work for the Cairo Museum of Antiquities as a librarian, but this, too, became a disaster when she accidentally destroyed shelving meant to house rare and valuable books.
When Evelyn meets Richard for the first time, she has all she could do to remain calm from his foul mouth. After another insult from him, she stands her ground saying, in no uncertain terms, “I beg your pardon.” She will not take invectives from a barbaric prisoner of war ready for the gallows. Yet, she lets the personal affronts pass and keeps a distance from him, asking him about Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead where Imhotep had taken Anck-Su-Namun’s body the first time he attempted to raise her from the dead.
After several episodes where they experience a brush with death, Evelyn and Richard becomes a winsome pair on a journey to discover the secret to the mummy’s tomb. What Richard lacks, Evelyn compensates. As opposed to going into a fight with guns blazing, Evelyn prefers using craftiness to get to the core of a situation. That craftiness though, works as a double-edge sword getting Evelyn, more times than not, into added trouble.
Regardless of Evelyn’s penchant for stirring a hornet’s nest, she truly belongs in the Women Who Wow Wednesday series for her sheer tenacity and downright nerves. No mummy ought to be messing with this lady.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale October 21.
What do you remember of the movie The Mummy? Have you ever been able to relate to Evelyn Carnahan?
Looking to God 
Of course, when i think of The Mummy, I think of the Boris Karloff version, 1932.
Love this movie! I always remember as a teen how awesome it would be to go to Eygpt and be an budding archaeologist. I love Evelyn as the young, brave and incorrigible woman.!
Even though movies like this are chock – full of inaccuracies, I still find them fascinating !
She certainly proved that not all Women Who Wow Wednesday characters have to kill zombies. Oh, wait–scratch that. Never mind!
I’m glad that I didn’t buy a ticket to see ” The Mummy : Tomb of the Dragon Emperor “, without Rachel Weisz, it just wouldn’t be the same. John Hannah had a line near the end of ” Dragon Emperor ” where he mentioned going to Peru, where there were ” no mummies “, & of course he couldn’t have been more wrong.:) ( I didn’t see it in theaters, but on FX instead. Think it was FX )
Ha Ha! The Mummy could be considered a reanimated corpse…(giggles).
Love this movie! And Evelyn. She is the coolest. 🙂
I loved the original Mummy movie but was so upset when they recast the part of Evelyn. It was just never the same after that.
I love this movie!! You are so right, it does stand the test of time. Evelyn is probably one of the characters I relate best to (and kind of wish I was…if only I hadn’t fallen asleep during my archaeology lecture!). I wish Rachel Weitz had stuck around for the third movie – she had a spunk and wit all her own that really made the character shine. That and her on-screen chemistry with Brendan Fraser was fabulous!
This series rocks! I have them all. 🙂
You pick the best girls! Haven’t seen this either.
The Mummy is a classic! Evelyn who always stands her ground and uncompromising Imhotep are the most important characters – good vs evil. Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Brendan Fraser, and Oded Fehr are an awesome team vs the evil Arnold Vosloo. The interaction between these characters (i.e. their chemistry) created a remarkable movie (2/3 horror, 1/3 comedy).
This movie was a good dose of pulpy fun. I heard a remake is about to happen.
Arnold Vosloo was in 2 direct – to – video ” Darkman ” sequels. He must have a thing for playing guys in bandages.
He can play villains & heroes fairly convincingly. He made Imhotep seem sympathetic in TMR when Anck – Su – Namun freaks & runs away from as he’s about to drop into the abyss ( Hell / Hades ) & he’s on the verge of tears.
She is AWESOME. I really enjoy this movie. What do I remember? I remember the the bookcase scene. But what I thought was utterly creepifying was seeing the Mummy put himself back together. Also, once he was? He was hot. Yep. lol
In the 1st movie, she had a couple of ” Lucille Ball ” moments ( The bookcases knocking each other down like giant dominoes ), in ” TMR “, she was a tad more serious, especially about finding out she was Nefertiri’s reincarnation ( Egyptians didn’t believe in reincarnation, but that’s a WHOLE other topic. ).
Both Mummy movies used an anthropologist / specialist in ancient languages to reconstruct a very passable facsimile of the Egyptian language. He was also used as a consultant in the ” Stargate ” movie. FYI.
Interesting info, zathra. I was thinking of Stargate as I read the post and comments. Do you have a link to the consultant’s site?
Evy is the woman women want to be: bright, funny, intelligent and yes comely. My favourite character was the brother. I love John Hannah.
Love this movie. Evelyn has great evolution over the course of it and the other movies. Though, I have fuzzy memories of the third one and all I remember from the second is CGI Scorpion Rock.
I enjoyed this movie on many levels. To me the brother is a gem. A comic relieve, second banana, who changes the movie from serious to camp. Considering the amount of dead in this movie, no pun intended, this movie could be a dreary zombie affair, but there is a lot of comedy in this movie. Evelyn does a great job. Without the chemistry this movie would have not ranked as well as it did. I have seen this movie half a dozen times. Mummy two and three not in the same league. But then sequels and prequels are usually not as original as a reboot of the old movies. Tongue in cheek.